A Journey - Shin Megami Tensei: IMAGINE Online
by JPMalio
Summary: Itsuki Rie sets out to look for her twin brother, Ren who left their City Arcadia because of rejection and anger. Following her brother's ways, she lived in Home III under Snakeman. 7 years have passed, but still no trace of him... Will she find her brother? (Shin Megami Tensei: IMAGINE Online is under ATLUS) Characters used are Original (igns in game)


_I was born into the Family of Arcadians when I was young. Reality knocked on my door too early when my Twin brother, RenShin was excommunicated for being found out that he belonged in the third gender._

_A few weeks after the incident, I escaped and ran away from them, the Arcadia, its people and my 'family'._

_It was the beginning of the Demonic Outbreak when I travelled my way to finding my brother, I didn't have any clueof where he was nor his whereabouts. As I kept walking, I reached Babel... It was under attack and the Elevator was burning. Upon checking around, a boy with dusty golden hair caught my eyes, sitting by the fountain. He seemed to be in shock as he watched the Elevator be torn into ashes. He watched silently. A girl came close to him and helped him up, and then they continued walking. When I followed them, I reached a place that I never knew existed after Home II. It felt exactly the same- When people lived normally and when there was no sides to take. It was a place where humans are humans, everyone lived in peace._

_Upon being held captive by Innocents, they brought me to a guy named Snakeman, he took care of me and gave me shelter without asking for reasons. Maybe this place was everyone's paradise- Their own special getaway, I thought to myself._

_I trained and trained and trained as I grew up under Snakeman. I saw him as a father than someone who just bosses us around and feeds us to work for him- He treated us well. Amidst all the mysteries and unanswered questions._

_Time came that curiosity knocked on my door; I asked Snakeman directly if he knew my brother._

_"Who's your brother?" He asked me, unsurprised._

_"RenShin. Itsuki Ren." I answered him eagerly._

_He then looked at me in a shocked face and whispered. "In your 7 years of living here, you only asked now..."_

_I stood in front of him dumbfounded when I wore a disturbed expression._

_"I sent your brother to Babel; he's finishing his Acts with Ezuna. You missed him. He left this morning."_

_With that, I finished his Licensure program and went straight to Babel to work under Yamamoto._

_Still in search for my brother, I made friends and trained different classes along the way. I took up Demolition Dashand Shot Mage back when I lived in Home III. I had a little chitchat with St Germain and there he told me about Support, he urged me to learn Enhancement so I did. Until now I haven't mastered it but I use it quite often._

_I've been so engrossed with searching for my brother that I've neglected my combat skills; I no longer have the stamina nor the 'fun' to get out there and spread some blood. I just wanted to look for him.I stood at the same spot from what I remembered where I saw this boy with dusty gold hair 7 years ago._

_I stood there staring at the newly built elevator... And now, I still find myself going back and forth, from present to the past and vise-versa. Keeping my grip to the hope of finding my brother._

_I ended the last Quest that Yamamoto-san gave me. It was finally time for me to keep my focus to looking for my brother. I still... Don't know where to start, really. I was talking in my head, walking around Babel when I noticed the same dusty golden hair amongst the crowd._

_I panicked and went on my way to see if it was still the same kid back then- Ezuna, as Snakeman said._

_As I reached out for the young man's shoulder, he turned around in startle, _

_"Whoah!"_

_I stared at him, my eyes beaming with excitement—_

_"Ezuna? Hanako Ezuna?"_

_"Wha-, sorry. You have the wrong guy." The young man replied without doubt, "Are you looking for someone...?"_

_I sighed, my tears flooded my eyes as I collapsed to the ground._

_"A-are you okay...?" He asked me again._

_"Y-yeah.. It's just."_

_He sat down with me, waiting for me to continue._

_"My... my brother. I've been looking for him for 7 years, and-"_

_"That's tough... Do you need any help?"_

_I looked at him desperately._

_"Alright, take my hand. I'm bringing you in."_

_"W..where?"_

_"To my Clan, we'll help you search for your brother."_

_A spark of hope lit in my heart, "Th-thank you!"_

_"Welcome to the Clan, darling!" A bunch of people greeted me as I ascended the stairs in front of the Depository Station._

_"Thanks." I replied, still lacking energy._

_The guy earlier took me by the shoulder and turned me around in front of everyone, _

_"We forgot to introduce ourselves."_

_Everyone came up and introduced themselves, and down to the last two, the young lady holding a Comet Sweeper started, _

_"I'm Inoreen. I'm the head of this Pussycat Den ^^~"_

_The young man behind me voiced out once more, _

_"I'm Kiruko. Good thing I brought you here hm?"_

_I nodded in excitement. _

_It was my first few weeks; it was such a warm place to be, for a second there I thought I could forget looking for my brother and treat this Clan as my family instead. I asked myself, 'Why not? Everyone's wonderful... They're just so good to me that I hope I could stay here forever.' but then I argued to myself, 'But... I really miss Renren so... I still have to look for him!' again I thought, 'What about the Ezuna person- I've always heard they were together in every Quest... They even shared a room together according to Snakeman.' I closed my eyes and let myself think._

_"Wait..." I whispered to myself—_

_"Don't tell me... Ren's finally-" I gasped in excitement, I jumped and hopped about-_

_Ino and Kiru came back from their training. They had to go back to Snakeman's lair to gain new skills._

_"How was it?" I asked, welcoming them back from the hard work_

_Kiru looked at me with dead eyes, _

_"Please... Let me stay on the ground for a bit-" He lay down, letting himself drift to sleep._

_"It was so difficult, hun. We had to run around Home III, it was like we were students again!" She exclaimed, patting Kiru's leg to move aside, she motioned to sleep beside him- "Ah.. this is the life."_

_"Oh!" She exclaimed, "By the way!" _

_"Hm?" I turned around,_

_"I asked Snakeman, again.. He said that boy- Ezuna's here in Babel!"_

_"Eh?!" I yelled at her "Are you serious?! There's a big possibility that my brother is with that person!"_

_In the middle of our heated moment, Inoreen & Kiruko's COMPs beeped at the same time,_

_"Oh, it's a message." She opened it and her COMP let out a message to join into the Clan, "Sender: Hanako Ezuna`" She read out loud and looked at me._

_My eyes completely focused on her I was stunned and eventually, I collapsed._

_"Is she going to be okay?" I heard a familiar tone, Inoreen._

_A person was sitting close to me, I could hear his breathing, _

_"Yes, she's just fatigued."_

_From a distance, I heard Kiru, "She probably let herself go when she finally had found out she had a lead to her missing brother."_

_"Probably."_

_"Welcome to the Clan, by the way Ez-"_

_I drifted to sleep again, this time I didn't know for how long._

_"Oi, where do you think you're touching me?!" I heard as I gained consciousness, my eyes still shut I let myself eavesdrop._

_The tools around the clinic were cluttering, I could hear weird noises..._

_"Oi oi! Stop it! Can't you see I'm treating a patient here?!" The person hissed._

_Again, weird noises. I heard their footsteps head to the next room, heavily breathing. My eyes popped open as I heard someone giving out soft moans, 'What the-' I thought to myself. I got up and tiptoed my way to see who the sneaky couple was-_

_"Ren!" I heard him murmur, "Stop it, I'm telling you-"_

_"Come on, it's not like she's going to wake up yet- OW!" I threw a pinch of fireball to his head,_

_"Stupid Aniki!" I yelled, my face flushed._

_"Did she... Just call you.. Bro..?" _

_"Bro? Wait, who are you?" He asked, irritated._

_I was taken aback, "Wh- what're you saying... You don't know me?"_

_"You bet I do, I don't even recognize you." He gave me a sneer._

_I gritted my teeth, "STUPID STUPID STUPID REN!" I stormed off._

_"Ren... She's..?" _

_"I don't... remember her."_

_It was the first night I didn't go back to Catopia's meet-up place. I went out to Shinagawa and traced back my way home. I let out a sigh and walked through the since that outbreak, Arcadia and Souhonzan was a free-entrance city. Anyone was allowed to go in and out of those cities.I made my way to Uriel's chambers to ask for guidance and peace of mind,_

_A young boy playing by himself caught my attention. He noticed me staring, so he stopped and greeted me, _

_"Hi!" a smile was immediately painted in his face._

_I waived in return, "Hello."_

_He walked up to me, "If you're looking for Uriel's chamber, the path had been changed. You have to go through the main chamber's hall to reach the entrance." He directed smartly._

_"Why thank you... What's your name?" I smiled,_

_"I'm Kuojiro!" He giggled._

_I picked out something in my bag, "To thank you for your assistance, here is a Chocolate Rabbit."_

_"Th-thank you!" He screamed awkwardly, his expression beamed at the sight of it._

_I went on to the Chambers and greeted Uriel._

_"It has been a while since I have felt your presence, young lady." He greeted me as I stepped in._

_I gave a faint smile, "You still remember me..."_

_"Of course, why would I not remember you- You were burning with passion to finding your brother 7 years ago when you sought for my help. I let you go and look at where it has brought you."_

_I sighed._

_"You've found him, am I not right?"_

_"I did... But he doesn't remember me. I don't know what to do anymore. It's taken me all my energy to find him yet-"_

_I broke into another sigh._

_"Be patient. Everything will fall back to its rightful place. You have to keep that in mind."_

_"But, how long do I have to wait?! Why doesn't he remember me?!" I asked him in confusion._

_He was silent. My mind wandered somewhere else as I heard a lullaby._

_The bells rang, "I think it's time to take my leave. I'm so sorry for blowing a fuse... I thank you greatly for your help, Uriel-sama."_

_"As it is my pleasure. I will await your return, young lady."_

_It wasn't long when I planned different ways to make him remember me, on my way back I plotted different schemes._

_"Rie! You're back!" Everyone from Catopia cheered as I appeared... I was quite dumbfounded- I thought no one noticed that I was gone._

_"W-welcome back." I heard Ren greet me._

_Everyone felt awkward and so did I. 'Maybe... I should give him some space. I shouldn't really force him to remember if he still couldn't.' As I settled to do what I had in mind, he came up to me._

_"Rie... I- I'm sorry if I can't remember you. It's was just. It was a part of how I grew up. I think."_

_I looked at him, trying to understand his intentions... I know he's my brother, and I know somewhere inside him, he still remembers._

_"It's okay, Ren... But please, don't restrict me from calling you brother. It's just been a part of my daily life... That I-"_

_"Alright. Let's get along from now on, Rie." He held his hand out._

_Little by little, we would spare some time to catch up on things we'd missed in those 7 years of being apart,_

_"What's happened to you over these years, Aniki?" I asked him, my eyes wandering around to the City._

_He sighed in embarrassment, _

_"Nothing really. I've only ever been studying and taking on missions ever since I could remember."_

_"How... did you end up in Home III?" I asked._

_He glanced at me, he was probably wondering why I know about Home III, _

_"I also went there, you know. I grew up there too. Under Snakeman." I went on, "To think we never met or saw each other- you would probably still remember me back then."_

_"I... I walked on my own. I wandered around in the streets, following strangers to wherever they go." He explained, "Can you believe it, I reached Home III's Camp ground- I met this Cait Sith and he brought me to a Guard. The man helped me get to Home III... I heard I was unconscious for over 2 weeks." His voice seemingly taking pity to himself._

_"I'm sorry." I whispered._

_He looked at me, "What's there to apologize for?"_

_"Because, I wasn't by your side... You left home without even telling me, I-"_

_He chuckled, "It wouldn't be a 'leaving home' kind of thing if I told anyone right? Besides, if you're really my sister, I would rather hear you say 'Thank goodness you're alright!' instead of an apology."_

_I nodded._

_Ezuna passed by and Ren hugged him from behind,_

_"Don't you have a bit of decency, Ren!?" Ezuna screamed at him._

_I was in a daze, watching them quarrel like children, Ezu felt uncomfortable, _

_"Rie, don't you dare fall for this guy-"_

_"I know you're together." I replied bluntly, turning to Ezuna, I smiled at him warmly, "Please take good care of my brother!"_

_Their faces shed a full blush as I laughed out loud, Ren still hanging on to him._

_The moon was at its highest, it was that night- Our birthday. I contacted him through our COMPs and to no prevail, I wasn't able to reach Aniki. He took another mission in partnership with Ezuna. This time, they were destined to see Uriel. I headed to sleep, not knowing they were planning to come back as soon as the mission was done._

_"ie.. Rie.." I heard a faint whisper,_

_"It can wait tomorrow, Ren. She seems to be deep in her sleep." Ezuna whispered to him,_

_"But..." He murmured,_

_I got up and rubbed my eyes, "What is- ?"_

_"Rie!" Ren exclaimed and hugged me tightly, he pulled himself back and showed me a dog tag necklace,_

_My eyes beamed with happiness, "How- You remember?!"_

_He nodded in excitement, "Uriel gave it to me, he said a young man found it in the Hallway the last time you went there."_

_I let out a deep sigh of content, "Finally..."_

_"Where's mom and dad?" He asked me,_

_My eyes squinted looking at him, "Th-they... I heard they moved."_

_"M.. moved? Moved where?"_

_"They went to Souhonzan." I looked away, "Aniki, who was the boy that found this dog tag?"_

_"Uriel said, his name is Kuojiro- He said that young boy's been working around the Chambers on his own."_

_I nodded, "This is the second time I owed him." I smiled, with this; my only brother is again within my reach. We went on with our life under Catopia, working with everyone just as how it was. We still took on more assignments, although this time we've been awaiting Ogami's next moves. It had been peaceful since she stopped attacking cities at random, releasing Demons in commercial areas._


End file.
